the lost chapters of the lectionary

i admit that it's partly my fault. i am famous for giving folks copies of the book of common prayer. in fact, my friends now send me their friends with their requests, knowing i will provide. (i also have a little private gideon-thing going on the side with the jerusalem bible..)

i introduce people to the prayer book because jesus told his disciples, of which i consider myself one, if a faltering one, "to make disciples," and the prayer book is really an exercise program: a discipline of spiritual body building, building up the body of christ. if christian television were really christian, at 2:00 a.m. there would be gnarly old ladies and men testifying to the way their lives had been changed by praying the psalms daily, and reciting the holy scriptures, of how their lives had been completely rebuilt in just two 15 minute sessions a day, all with a book that fits conveniently on the bed-side table.

one of the things i point out to folks is that the prayer book lectionary leads us through the new testament twice a year and the old testament in two years. (back in the day--1549 or so--it lead us through the old testament in a year, and the new testament twice a year, but as one can tell from the before pictures on late night television, we've gotten soft.) but, the problem is, it doesn't.

now we are lead to read less each day now, which i think is probably a good thing in many ways. the smaller portions make lectio divina with the daily readings easier. and they make it easier to take in and digest even if one doesn't chew very slowly. unfortunately, we also are led to leave parts out, and sometimes they are very important parts indeed.

the problem is that the church (pecusa, producer of the daily office lectionary, which is used by most denominations in america) has adopted modern critical study of the bible, and such a study doesn't know how to make useful such stories as the 19th and 20th chapters of the book of judges, so they are just left out. and these two chapters are the climax of the bible up to this point, and they are quite important to at luke's understanding of the coming of the messiah. (compare what happens to mary and joseph in bethlehem to what happens to the ephraimite levite's concubine. and consider the geographical places involved in the story, remembering that galilee is ephraimite territory.)

these two chapters are stories of our lack of hospitality ("we do not love our neighbor as ourself") and our inability to "fix" things on our own ("and there is no health in us." the tribes of abraham, chosen to be a blessing to the whole world, have become no better than sodom. and there is no forgiveness; the other tribes follow their own oaths, but ignore the commandments of the holy one. these are juicy if horrible chapters, quite accurately describing the world in which we are ruled by our own desires. ("there was no king in israel. each man did what was good in his own sight.")

so, if i have coerced you into following the daily office from the book of common prayer, i encourage you to check ahead and make sure you read any parts our enlightened editors have edited out. if i have not encouraged you into following the daily office, please consider this an invitation. i have, as always, a stock of books to give away.

you can also sample the readings of the daily office on line, of course.